Letourneau, teacher-sex predator, released in traffic case

Mary Kay Letourneau, the infamous former teacher who pleaded guilty in 1997 to having sex with her sixth-grade student and later married him, has been released after being briefly jailed in a traffic case.

Letourneau was booked into King County Jail in Seattle early Monday for allegedly failing to appear in court after being accused of driving on a suspended license. She was expected to post a $5,000 bond, reports CBS affiliate KIRO.

Letourneau was pulled over for expired car tabs in January of 2013 and authorities discovered her license had been suspended for unpaid traffic tickets, reports the station. The King County Prosecutor’s Office ordered Letourneau to attend a re-licensing program to avoid a criminal charge, but she failed to show up for the program and a criminal case was filed against her.

When she failed to appear for a court hearing in the case in September of 2013, a $5,000 warrant was reportedly issued against her. The warrant was still outstanding when she was recently pulled over again, and she was reportedly arrested around 8 p.m. Sunday.

Letourneau’s first appearance in this latest traffic case is Tuesday at 1:30 p.m, reports KIRO.

Letourneau became infamous after she was arrested in 1997 and accused of having sex with her former sixth-grade student, Vili Fualaau. Letourneau pleaded guilty in exchange for a 3-month jail sentence and probation, reports the station. Then 34, she had given birth to Fualaau's child.

After being released, authorities discovered Letourneau and Fualaau together in 1998, a violation of Letourneau’s parole. She again became pregnant with Fualaau’s child. Following that violation, she was sentenced by a judge to 7-and-a-half years in prison.

After her release, Fualaau and Letourneau were married in 2005, when she was 43 and Fualaau was 22.